I haven’t really shared much in the way of guest posts before, but when Emma approached me about writing a post for cool mums about how to beat boredom this summer, I was all ears. After all, we have 6 long weeks of holidays looming upon us and I’m always open to new ideas to get the girls outdoors and away from the dreaded box when the sun makes an appearance.

So I hand you over to Emma; a teacher, constantly improving her skills both as a teacher and as a parent. She is passionate about writing and learning new things that can help you to lead a quality life. She is a regular contributor to High Style Life. You can follow her on Twitter @EmmahLawson.

Boredom Busting Ideas for Cool Mums

Children are so eager for the summer vacation to begin, that it comes as a surprise that all they can do just a couple of weeks later is complain they don’t have anything to do. And when they say the words “I’m bored”, every parent starts counting days until the school starts again. This can get even more annoying if you’re spending 24/7 at home. Instead of stressing yourself, try to play it cool and give them some great ideas on what to do with their time. You will kill two birds with one stone – they will have something to do, and you will become a supermum. Here are some ideas you can steal from us.

Turn Your Backyard into a Survival Training Ground

If your kids are fans of action movies, give them their very own set-piece by turning your backyard into a survival training ground. Draw inspiration from army movies, but tone it down a bit, your kids are not Rambo. Place some old tires around the yard, get a few planks and draw targets on them, make a small bridge and a climbing wall. Just make sure everything is safe to use before showing your kids just how cool you are.

Assign Them a Project

One would think they had enough projects in school, but if you come up with the right task, they’ll love it. Younger kids can plant flowers, vegetables, or even a small garden. Then they can follow its progress throughout the summer. Older kids could make a photo project with a specific theme, or do some detective work about the origin of their family.

Get Them to Fly – Well, Glide

Your kids may not know who Marty McFly is, but there is no way they would not have fun on their new “hoverboard”. They will love the feeling of freedom and incredible fun they can have by simply getting a ride on the self-balancing segway board. Perhaps they’ll eventually find it more fun to be outside, instead of spending hours in the house in front of a computer screen.

Keep Their Hands Busy

With the recent growth in popularity of DIY tutorials and techniques, we have seen many projects that are perfectly safe and easy for kids to do. They can make their own stuffed toys, a tin-can wind chimes, paint the plates, paint the vase or wrap it into a piece of fabric or make a photo scrapbook. They can also decorate their own rooms, learn to cook, etc.

Organize a Scavenger Hunt

Release their inner Sherlock Holmes, by organizing a scavenger hunt that will include their neighborhood friends and some family members. Divide them into teams, prepare a list of items they should find and give them their task. You will see how a day, or even a few days, can fly by without even noticing.

A Fun Water Park in Your Backyard

Get an affordable rubber pool, scatter some sprinkles around the backyard and make your own slip ‘n’ slide. Use a plastic sheeting instead of a store bought variety, hold it in place with rocks and wet it with a water hose which you will leave sitting on the plastic to keep it wet. The water park will be fun for both younger and older kids, and the parents can enjoy it too.

You can make a “boredom busting jar”, for emergency cases. You put a number of pieces of paper with simple activities (e.g. ride a bike) and have your kids commit to pulling one out whenever utter the words “I’m bored”.

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Hey, how's it going? I'm Sarah, a mum of two little girls, living in the Garden of England that is Kent.
Life is great, but don't expect it to be all rose tinted glasses in this blog. (Maybe rosé tinted?). Being a Mum is the nuts, an absolute game changer, but also flippin' harder than I was expecting it to be! This blog is a little snippet into the life of a (once) cool Mum, muddling through this chapter of life called PARENTING x